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"I could have caught them, that's how close they got to me," Lynch said.

Baldwin, an undrafted rookie out of Stanford, showed the rest of the NFL what it missed Monday night. He blocked a first-quarter punt that was returned by Michael Robinson 17 yards for a touchdown, then caught a 29-yard TD pass from Tarvaris Jackson in the third period as the Seattle Seahawks pulled away for a 30-13 win over the staggering St. Louis Rams.

Seattle (6-7) won for the fourth time in five games and kept alive its slim hopes for reaching the postseason. The Seahawks likely would need to win out to potentially make the playoffs a reality, but they're at least back in the conversation after a 2-6 start.

Beast Mode, Engaged

It's been a tale of two seasons for Marshawn Lynch. In his first six games, he averaged 43.8 rushing yards per game with 3 touchdowns. But over his last six games Lynch has has made the best of an increased role.

Marshawn Lynch's Rushing This Season

1st 6 Games

Last 6 Games

Rush PG

12.3

25.2

YPG

43.8

117.7*

Yds per att

3.6

4.7

TDs

3

6

* - 706 rushing yards last six games (leads NFL)

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Much of this late-season rally has been on the back of Lynch, who is making a push for a reward beyond sweets this offseason -- a big contract as a free agent.

Lynch topped 100 yards rushing for the fifth time in the last six games, finishing with 115 on 23 carries. He scored a touchdown in his ninth straight game on a 16-yard run with 2:57 left to put away Seattle's 13th win in its last 14 games against the Rams.

Seahawks fans threw bags of Skittles into the end zone as Lynch celebrated his ninth rushing touchdown this season, and he tied a franchise record with nine consecutive games with a TD.

"I think it's more of a team accomplishment," Lynch said. "It's great to have, but that win was a lot better."

Baldwin, who is Seattle's leading receiver and has become the main option for Jackson, finished with seven receptions for 93 yards and his third TD catch of the season.

As a receiver, he disappeared until the third quarter when he snagged a 22-yard reception across the middle to convert a third-and-11 near midfield. On the next play, Baldwin faked going inside and broke to the sideline, losing Darian Stewart in coverage. Jackson found Baldwin and he got just inside the pylon to give the Seahawks a 14-point lead.

Playoff Machine

"We just expect that out of him now," Jackson said. "We expect him to go out and make plays every week."

His catches seemed secondary to his contribution on special teams.

Baldwin's influence on the game was evident from the start, when he took a pitch from Leon Washington on a kickoff reverse and returned it beyond the 40. Seattle was later forced to punt, but it was Baldwin racing from the outside to down the punt at the Rams 6.

Then he made the biggest of his three fine special teams plays in the first 5 minutes of the game.

Coming almost entirely unblocked off the right end, Baldwin took a punt off the foot of Donnie Jones. The bounding ball hopped up into the arms of Robinson, who went the final 17 yards for an early 7-0 Seahawks lead.

"As far as my expectations go, I expected to be successful. I didn't know how successful, but I expected to be able to come in here and win a job in some capacity, because if you don't have that confidence in yourself you're not going to win a job," Baldwin said. "To be where I am now, no I didn't expect this. But at the same time I'm not satisfied."

Victim Of Circumstance?

Sam Bradford, the first pick of the 2010 NFL draft, played solidly in his first 12 career starts, but has spiraled downhill since then.

Sam Bradford's Career

1st 12 Starts

Since

W-L

6-6

2-12

Rams PPG

19.3

12.3

Comp pct

60.6

54.9

TD-INTs

17-10

7-11

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Jackson wasn't his best, but didn't need to be against the Rams. He went 21 of 32 for 224 yards and connected with nine receivers.

Seattle topped 100 yards rushing for the sixth straight game, accomplishing that feat for the first time in the same regular season since 1996. It came behind an offensive line that lost its third starter for the season a week ago when Russell Okung went down with a torn pectoral muscle.

And kicker Steven Hauschka hit field goals of 23, 42 and 48 yards. Seattle's only flub was a fumbled exchange late in the first half deep in the Rams' end.

Sam Bradford started for St. Louis (2-11) despite a high left ankle sprain that's bothered him for nearly two months and forced him to miss last week's game at San Francisco. Bradford barely practiced this week and it showed as he was rusty and made poor decisions. Bradford was 12 of 29 for 193 yards, was intercepted by Brandon Browner on the first play of the second half and nearly picked off on a handful of other throws.

Steven Jackson had 50 yards rushing on 11 carries by halftime, including dashes of 11 yards twice and 10 yards once. He was limited to just 42 yards on 15 carries when the teams met a few weeks ago and the Rams were trying to exploit the Seahawks' secondary. Jackson finished with 63 yards on 20 carries, but was ignored for five plays from the Seattle 1 in the fourth quarter before finally scoring on a third-and-goal plunge.

That was the extent of the highlights for the Rams.

"I feel like we've just lacked consistency all year," Bradford said. "It's just really hard to get a rhythm going when you don't establish the path on a run."

Game notes

Seattle LB Leroy Hill sustained a stinger in the closing seconds, but coach Pete Carroll thought he would be OK. Seahawks guard Robert Gallery was taken out late with a sore hip. ... Steven Jackson's 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was St. Louis' first offensive TD in Seattle since September 2008. ... Brandon Lloyd led St. Louis with five catches for 82 yards but was targeted 12 times. ... Browner's interception was his fifth of the season. ... Josh Brown made field goals of 46 and 29 yards for the Rams.

Research Notes

Marshawn Lynch joined Shaun Alexander as the only Seahawk to score a touchdown in 9 straight games. Lynch's 2011 season is the closest thing to the 2005 NFL MVP.
Lynch became just the second Seahawk running back to have at least 950 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns over the past 15 seasons through the first 13 games.

The St. Louis Rams through 13 games have the third fewest points scored in the last 10 seasons.
The only teams to score fewer points were the 2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2006 and the St Louis Rams who did it just two seasons ago. Over the last 3 seasons the Rams have been outscored 1,018 to 588.

Fewest Points In Single Season

Through 13 Games Last 10 Seasons

Points Allowed

W-L

Date

St. Louis

146

361

1-12

2009

Tampa Bay

151

289

3-10

2006

St. Louis

153

326

2-11

2011

*Rams have been outscored 1,018 to 588 in last 3 seasons

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It's been a tale of two seasons for Marshawn Lynch. In his first six games, he averaged 43.8 rushing yards per game with 3 touchdowns. But over his last six games Lynch has has made the best of an increased role.

Marshawn Lynch's Rushing This Season

1st 6 Games

Last 6 Games

Rush PG

12.3

25.2

YPG

43.8

117.7*

Yds per att

3.6

4.7

TDs

3

6

* - 706 rushing yards last six games (leads NFL)

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NEXT LEVEL: Doug Baldwin gained 73 of his 93 yards after the catch, the highest single-game total for the Seahawks this season. Baldwin also caught a touchdown pass that traveled 18 yards in the air; he leads the Seahawks with 14 receptions and two touchdowns on passes at least 15 yards downfield.

NEXT LEVEL: Tarvaris Jackson completed 6 of 8 passes off of play action, including his only touchdown pass on such throws this season. Meanwhile, Sam Bradford completed only 30 percent of his throws after a play fake, including an interception to start the second half when trailing by 7 points.

Play-Action Passing Monday Night

Jackson

Bradford

Pass-Att

6-8

3-10

Yds/Att

9.3

3.2

TD-Int

1-0

0-1

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NEXT LEVEL: Marshawn Lynch totaled 115 rushing yards, including 49 yards after first contact (2.1 yards after contact per rush). Since the start of Week 9, Lynch leads the league in yards after contact (336) and is among the top 10 in yards after contact per rush (2.2).